Tomorrow morning I will be landing very early at the airport in Guatemala City. This is my first time to Guatemala and I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to explore this beautiful country. My time there will also be an opportunity to explore my own internal leadership territory. Despite having spent many years being a leader and learning about leadership, at this point in my life I am even more aware that the quality of my leadership is directly related to my awareness of what behaviors and biases I personally bring to my leadership.
At times I bring many strengths. I have been intentional in learning to listen, to ask questions, to be curious, to look for the common ground, to reflect on my on intent in regards to the work at hand and to clarify what the intent of the group or organization is. And yet I know that I have my blind spots - the assumptions about the world and how things work, my cultural mindset and values and my unintentional influences on those around me. Lately I have been reflecting on my tendency to want to give advice and my ability to articulate what I am seeing in the systems and networks around me that might lead to creative solutions. While I am in Guatemala these are the aspects of my internal landscape that I want to explore and learn the skills that I want to incorporate into my way of being as a leader.
I am travelling to Guatemala with my colleague and friend Christine Bonney. Over this next week we will be applying the road map for The Acacia Group's Socially Responsible Leadership experiences. We will be coaching each other as we apply leadership theory and intentionally begin to practice new and emergent skills and ways of being. We will be travelling to Nebaj with our community partners Social Entrepreneur Corp (SEC) and participating in community work - helping at the Centro Explorativo as well as helping local entrepreneurs bring their goods to markets in the surrounding communities. Walking into a new environment is a powerful opportunity to think and reflect upon what I see, how I interpret it, and how I choose to respond and interact in a positive and generative way. This is what I want to be able to bring back to my way of leading in my life - the practice of reflection, the choices I make in interpreting what I experience, and the behaviors that I want to express.
On a contextual note, I have noticed recently that the Extractive Sector (i.e., mining sector) in Canada is coming under increasing scrutiny for their lack of CSR practices. Amnesty International and other organizations are drawing attention to the negative impact Canadian Companies are having in their off shore development - particularly in developing countries. Guatemala is one of the countries where Canadian companies are being called to account for their lack of attention to social justice and human rights, and environmental damage. Perhaps one day executives from the Extractive Sector will experience this type of leadership development experience and bring back to their organizations the awareness and skills to lead in a way that addresses all three priorities - people - planet - profit.
The Acacia Group’s purpose and passion is transformative and unique leadership development for organizations and individuals seeking to live out their global citizenship. To do this we blend knowledge from Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Development and Leadership Development and Learning to emerge new opportunities for leadership excellence for our clients
It was Isaac Newton who said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. This article concludes an interview with Greg Van Kirk, a giant in the field of social entrepreneurship and a leader who has contributed immensely to our vision of community development.
Two previous segments of the interview with Greg have run on this blog space, and first time readers are encouraged to read these in order to get the full grasp of Greg’s work and to also watch the brief video that puts a face to the efforts.
If we, as The Acacia Group build something new or orient our approach to international community development in a slightly different way it is because of people like Greg and organizations like Social Entrepreneur Corps who have gone out and charted a course on what successful community programs can look like; programs that are sustainable, and that are locally run and operated.
Greg’s work is also informed by input and leadership by engaged student interns, who in turn benefit from those who have gone before. I asked him about working with this group of learners and contributors.
Greg, in a simplistic way – that is in many ways too limiting, the millennial generation has been described as fitting in between two poles. One, they are quite entitled, they want what they want and when they want it and; two, they are very plugged in to the issues around globalization and the need for full engagement in social responsibility to help others and the planet. What have you observed as you watch these young people engage?
While the bulk of the students who show up would naturally fall into the latter group of seeking to help, there are still vestiges of the former group too, who just want things to go easy. This falls away fairly quickly. The experience of working with local villagers is enhanced for participants who go in with an open hand, and open mind and are prepared to get their hands dirty. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option and the act of “doing” erodes the sense of entitlement very quickly. During the volcano in June, while it did not directly impact our program, it did have an effect on communities close by – we had a team meeting and the response was unequivocal “We are fine, this event has happened to us, now let’s get out there and go help”. These guys are inspirational, they did this independent of direction from our program. These are the leaders of tomorrow who are showing their skills right now.
From a corporate social responsibility perspective (CSR) - it is really quite fascinating. Established leaders in business or the social arena may do “battle” as to the appropriateness of interactions and the place on the continuum of certain efforts. Young leaders see no such dichotomy – there is no best approach – they simply live the concept of do well by doing good. Social is not a bad word, business is not either.
Voluntourism is growing and becoming more popular. Critics are concerned about what can be a transactional and surface level approach to change. What are your thoughts on this? If it is about sampling of a culture then I would argue that it is not effective for either the participant or the local villager. If it is about true learning and making a true impact then that is another. It should always be about supporting the end needs of the beneficiaries and supporting those organizations that support the beneficiaries. (We had previously established that Greg and SEC are a development organization versus a volunteer organization) One of things we have to guard against is students saying “I will help in this way” i.e. their way. Instead they should be asking “What do you want” – often this is not sexy stuff, but it can create a huge impact.
What does the future hold for Greg Van Kirk?
The connection to Ashoka and the Ashoka Lemolson Fellowship has been huge. While we have been encouraged to develop our model of microconsignment elsewhere, to be done well it takes a lot of time. You have to create a relationship of trust and integrity. This cannot be transactional and quick. The Fellowship has opened lots of doors to share information with brilliant leaders in the field, and as a result we can share and combine ideas that can have an impact in different places. We don’t always have to use any one program but can constantly adapt and learn based on the application and location. The truth of the matter is that our model and other Ashoka programs work and can work all over the world. We have an obligation to make this happen. So we work with our own internal leadership team and try to find ways to create replication, working with good partners elsewhere to leverage their connections into an area. We are also working with the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Centre at Columbia University where we are focused on the creation of centre of excellence for studying and improving microconsignment – we can create obsolescence for ourselves by housing the knowledge at an accessible connection point.
Thoughts on engaging leaders…?
We have unintentionally created a culture of effective leadership – we attract people who are drawn into a certain way of being – we help them shape their thinking, you know, fundamentals – begin with the end in mind – provide servant leadership –don’t manage, don’t tell – learn to trust. Trust your team implicitly- have total faith that even when they make mistakes they are just learning and that they will be fine.
The generosity and openness of Greg’s vision is truly remarkable and allows for a cocreation of programs and services that can have a profound effect on the lives of all who participate. Many thanks go to him for giving us the time for this conversation, for the partnership and for allowing us to stand on his shoulders.
The Acacia Group’s mission is to offer transformative and unique leadership development for organizations and individuals seeking to live out their global citizenship. To do this we blend knowledge from Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Development and Leadership Development and Learning to emerge new opportunities for excellence for our clients.
Greg Van Kirk and SEC has generously agreed to a partnership with The Acacia Group in the development of effective leadership through work in Guatemala. We are currently offering a unique opportunity for a smaller group to join us in late November 2010 and to learn and help shape our progam. Contact us for more information or to join our upcoming webinar on July 7th at 12:00 noon PDT.
The Acacia Group will be hosting a second webinar to provide information regarding their transformative learning opportunity in Guatemala –departing in late November, where special pricing is in effect.
The call and the experience are intended for: • Individuals who wish to move out of their comfort zone and be different in the world they see • Individuals and organizations who recognize the value of experiential learning and who want to take their learning outside of the office or classroom • Individuals and organizations who have tasted success, and are now seeking a way to “make a difference” in the world around them. • Organizations that are looking for distinct ways to engage in meaningful, longer-term corporate social responsibility and see that growing leadership is the way to truly embed sustainablity into their corporate DNA.
Discover, Experience, Grow – these are the core elements of The Acacia Group and their socially responsible leadership experiences. Join us on this week's webinar to understand how you or your company can access a unique experience in social responsibility and an investment in learning.
July 7th at 12:00 noon Pacific
The webinar is free – just send an email toinfo@theacaciagroup.ca indicating which date you would like to attend and we will send you personal dial in info. For more information visit www.theacaciagroup.ca and click the link for Guatemala.
Earlier this week I had the good fortune to meet again with Greg Van Kirk, Ashoka Lemolson Fellow, and Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Columbia University.Greg is an open, engaging and skilled social entrepreneur who has demonstrated that with passion, intelligence and integrity – communities can be made stronger.
The discussion was rich with information and as a result, over the next week or so this blogspace will contain excerpts from that conversation. Further information on Greg’s work can also be found at http://www.newdevelopmentsolutions.com/ . His worked is also featured in the video found on this site.
Some brief background first: Greg runs a variety of programs- including Social Entrepreneur Corps, (SEC). This program provides development programs in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Working with local agencies, interested local entrepreneurs and with input from seventy-five university students and recent graduates interns from the US – Greg has supported the development of a variety of programs that benefit local villagers in these three countries.
Can you describe your program?
Well we looked at the various programs that existed such as academic programs that focused on the learner’s academic needs, or even volunteer programs that tend to be more relief focus and realized that that would not work for our vision.We don’t see our program as a volunteering program, we are a development organization that focuses year round on developing local people. We have been able to create a structure whereby people can, on a short term basis – focusing as apprentices or interns – share their skills in a manner that adds capacity to the local community; the focus is always on the beneficiaries and the work flows from there. 80% of our current permanent workforce are former interns of the Social Entrepreneur Corps.
I know that you started with the Centro Exlprativo, can you tell me more about that and how that has evolved and benefitted from some of the “incubator” work of SEC?
Centro Explorativo, in Nebaj is an education centre that started as a literacy program, but now has over 2000 books, free computer classes, after school classes on math and literacy, along with sports programs – all these services are free up and running since 2003. The program now boasts three teachers, and is owned and administered by a local organization of Guatemalan’sand has had thousands of participants.
That’s right, from education there has also been a focus on tourism- a site that started as a restaurant, has evolved and created spin- offs such as a guiding business, a coffee shop, a hostel, internet centre, language school – that have now be owned by local folks since 2004. SEC provided $25,000 of program support resulting in total revenues of $750,000.
These are concrete examples of creating a tangible presence in the community, but these locations are backed up the creation of skills that are portable.SEC is a driver of the micro-consignment model . The purpose of which is to create access to products and services that ordinarily would not exist or are donated.We stared with the distribution of wood burning stoves, and now distribute eye glasses, energy efficient bulbs, lamps, and now water treatment programs.These are just the products but SEC has trained and supported – over 200 women entrepreneurs and also work with broker community organizations like libraries, who can in turn provide training. We help create village campaigns, where we assist entrepreneurs do the marketing, advertising etc to a village, building anticipation and then they show up with their goods – so far we have executed over 2000 of these campaigns, sold over 60,000 products. Earned net income in aggregate around $75,000.Now,a social enterprise has been created to allow this activity to continue and to be sustained– it is share based company model owned by Guatemalan men and women, homemakers with no experience, now own a company that generates $80,000 annually in revenue.We estimate that the economic productivity benefit from this i.e. health issues with a stove, savings from not having to buy water or consume contaminated water, increased productivity due to being able to see because of glasses is around $1.4 million in Guatemala alone. We have now taken this model to Ecudaor and Nicargaua – and all sales are even across the board and consistent with the beta work we have done in Guatemala
Greg’s work has captured the attention of the social entrepreneur community and there is a desire to determine how this can be duplicated in other sites. More information on this issue, and the notion of engagement will be discussed in blogs posted later this week. Stay tuned, or subscribe!
The Acacia Group works with Greg and Social Entrepreneur Corps in Nebaj, and is offering an opportunity for individuals or groups to participate in, observe and learn from SEC and the citizens of Nebaj.This experience is combined with personal and group leadership development coaching before, during and after the trip for up to three months.Interest is building, so book soon at www.theacaciagroup.ca
Two stories came to my attention this week that have caused me to pause and consider the nature of organizations and the potential influence they hold in the world – for good or for harm. They in turn generated three questions
1.When entering into a business venture in a developing country, is it not a fundamental responsibility of the corporation to determine and then avoid risk to environment and people if the business is created there?
2.What is the depth, intensity and duration of CSR activities as they relate to social, environmental and political processes in any country within the corporate value chain? Is there integrity or is it window dressing?
3.How do we get the message across that for CSR to work it must be embedded into all aspects of the corporate decision making process and strategy?
The first story arrived via a media campaign from an organization requesting support for a writing campaign in support of the Women of Atenco – Mexico.The background to the request is well covered on internet sites including Amnesty USA .The facts appear to be that in 2006 violence between protesters and police resulted in the death of a child, and with this tragedy local peasant organization in San Salvador Atenco Mexico gathered to show their support for the community.The Mexican authorities responded with force and of arrested hundreds including at least 45 women.Of the 45 women arrested, 26 subsequently reported being physically and sexually assaulted by Mexican police while they were being held.One officer has been convicted (of a minor offence) and none of the other officials who perpetrated the abuse have been adequately held responsible even though the Supreme Court of Mexico issued a statement in 2009 that human rights abuses did take place.Amnesty International USA is inviting the public to join them in a letter writing campaign to ask the Special Prosecutor on Violence Against Women for a full and impartial investigation of those involved in the rape, sexual violence, torture, and ill treatment of the female detainees and that the perpetrators be brought to justice. – What is the CSR link? Based on a variety of accounts, the impetus for the initial protest, where the child died, was a dispute related to plans to build a Wal-Mart at the site historically used by flower vendors.
The second story was a documentary titled `The Coca-Cola Case’.The event that sparked the documentary was the murder of unionized workers at a Coca Cola licensed bottling plant in Columbia.In the film, the journey by a small group of lawyers representing the workers at the plant who attempted to bring a case against Coca Cola is chronicled.While the film has received mixed reviews, the facts of the case include the death of and death-threats against workers at the plant who have joined the union, and the reputation of Colombia as a country that is facing a human rights crisis – particularly against trade unionists.The current state of Colombia’s human rights violations is well documented on sites such as Amnesty USA and The Henning Center (a University of California, Berkeley project of the Center for Labor Research and Education).
The questions that these two stories raise for me are basic.
1.When entering into a business venture in a developing country, is it not a fundamental responsibility of the corporation to determine the risk to environment and people if the business is created there?
2.What are the depth, intensity and duration of CSR activities as they relate to social, environmental and political processes in any country within the corporate value chain? Is there integrity or is it window dressing?
The second questionrelates to the state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in large multinational corporations.How real is the embracing of CSR?Both Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola have recently launched significant CSR programs and this is a positive step.It may well be that in typical organizational form, changes are happening slowly and a snapshot in time does not do justice to the changes that are underway.Changes take time and a longitudinal view may provide a better perspective on the state of CSR.However both companies seem to be silent on the events in Mexico and Colombia respectively.As large corporations, they have the influence to declare and abide by a value ethic that upholds human rights and environmental protection as paramount in the business decision making processes.
3.How do we get the message across that for CSR to work it must be embedded into all aspects of the corporate decision making process and strategy?
This final question comes from a place of curiosity regarding an organization’s internal decision making process and the ability of humans (and I include myself in this) to disconnect my decisions from the harmful impacts that may result.What will it to take to create an impetus for organizations to examine their decision making – at all organizational levels?I acknowledge that it is very difficult to anticipate all the intended and unintended consequences of an organization’s decisions.Surely there are some outcomes that must be avoided at all costs and about which a clear statement can be made.Over the past decades however, a tremendous amount of skill and knowledge that has been developing around processes for facilitating better decision – making – let’s take advantage of them in the spirit of doing right and avoiding harm.
As companies orient themselves to behave as large economies versus as true members of a community it can be easy for them to appear reckless in their desire to grow, and at times tread on fundamental human rights. I, however, continue to choose optimism – that people will find the courage within their roles in life to examine their own values and to choose to do good. That the trend towards true CSR engagement is not just an illusion, but evidence that big corporations are starting to get clear on their responsibilities.
In an earlier blog the question was asked if there was any research about employees making choices based on their values when those values are opposed to the values of their organizations.What is your experience in this type of situation?
In light of the magnitude of the task at hand, sometimes a simple action can make a difference. Please click here if you wish to take action on behalf of the Women of Atenco.
This post was written by Penny Lane, Managing Director of the Acacia Group, responsible for Community Development and International Relations
The Acacia Group’s mission is to offer transformative and unique leadership development for organizations seeking to live out their global citizenship. To do this we blend knowledge from Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Development and Leadership Development and Learning to create new opportunities for excellence for our clients. For more information, visit www.theacaciagroup.ca
Ever since large corporations such as Nike, Shell and Monsanto began facing increased scrutiny from civil society – mostly for putting short-term profits far ahead of environmental responsibility and job security- an industry has ballooned to help these companies respond.It seems clear, however, that many in the corporate world remain utterly convinced that all they have is a `messaging problem’ one that can be neatly solved by settling on the right, socially minded brand identity.
It turns out that’s the last thing they need. British Petroleum found this out the hard way when it was forced to distance itself from its own outrageous rebranding campaign, Beyond Petroleum.Understandably, many consumers interpreted the new slogan to mean the company was moving away from fossil fuels in response to climate change.Human rights and environmental activists, after seeing no evidence that BP was actually changing its policies, brought up embarrassing details at the company’s annual general meeting about BP’s participation in a controversial new pipeline through sensitive areas of Tibet, as well as its decision to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.With the new slogan being parodied on the Net as Beyond Preposterous, BP officials moved to abandon the Beyond Petroleum brand, though they have so far stuck with the new green flower logo.
As evidence of the state of corporate confusion, I frequently find myself asked to give presentation to individual corporations.Fearing that my words will end up in some gooey ad campaign, I always refuse.But I can offer this advice without reservation: nothing will change until corporations realize that they don’t have a communications problem.They have a reality problem.
Apple computers is now the world’s most valuable computer tech company surpassing Microsoft and now has a market capitalization of approx $120 B.This coincides with Steve Jobs touting the release of the new iPhone – that caused one tweeter to note that the new phone has a soul.This is comedic in some ways, tragic in others – when one considers that Apples 2010 supplier responsibility progress report indicates that only 46% of the suppliers agree to the code of conduct limiting worker hours to 60 per week, and of those only 60% were compliant with standards around minimum wage and benefits. (It begs the question, how can the phone have soul, but the company is void).This adds fuel to fire of the speculation of the cause of deaths by suicide at an Apple parts manufacturing plant in China. Yet, despite the widely touted advantages of the net, the ability to fact check and have this story go viral – from my vantage point has anything occurred to slow down the massive rush for iPads and now iPhone 4’s? – Not that I know of.
The number of tweets breathlessly anticipating the arrival of the new technology is staggering, with over 100 tweets in two minutes.To get 100 hits on the #CSR hashtag –took 4.5 hours. This is a simple, non-scientific was to illustrate that as a society we love our bright shiny things, and will evidently will turn a blind eye, a deaf ear or simply tune out bad news from companies that deliver something to us that we want.BP is rightly the poster boy of the month for public floggings, but let’s be real clear…the disconnect between BP stated values and their behavior was identified years ago – yet in our hunger for the oil are we not complicit in allowing their destructive practices to continue? And similarly are we not complicit now in allowing Apple to flaunt basic employment codes and to avoid the almost inherent need to set, establish and print CSR targets?
CSR has shifted from being predominantly philanthropic (which met the needs of the company) to being more strategic, yet as was pointed outbyWarren Levy in CSRwire talkback, “ CSR is an activity yardstick, a leading indicator of contributions that, though positive, can co-exist with unsustainable behavior that eventually will overwhelm any good that’s done.” He goes on to argue that the standard for behavior should be shifting from the “’no tomorrow” behavior or BP and perhaps Apple and instead consider the self- explanatory “grandchildren standardI like bright shiny things too, but let’s be clear of our responsibility and yes, our hypocrisy as we flog some companies and flauntothers.I really hope, that in ten years we are not cursing ourselves for supporting Mr. Jobs – and wondering “how the hell did that happen” as we respond to another social or environmental calamity.
The Acacia Group’s mission is to offer transformative and unique leadership development for organizations seeking to live out their global citizenship.To do this we blend knowledge from Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Development and Leadership Development and Learning to emerge new opportunities for excellence for our clients.
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